Peranakan Plasterwork

These photos were taken a while ago on Balestier Road in Singapore. It's not a central area, and a little rundown, but what struck me was the amazing plasterwork on the old shop-houses along it.
 
Decorative plasterwork and tiling are both features of Peranakan (aka Baba/Nyonya, or Straits Chinese) architecture, and these are quite impressive examples, I think. The style is part of the Eclectic style, which combined influences of East (dragons and other motifs) with West (Dutch, British, Portuguese). Usually the level or ornateness was a show of the wealth of the merchant who owned the property. These buildings are probably late 19th, or 20th, century. (My research shows a number of different dates for the introduction of plasterwork!)
 
Most of these buildings have modern shops downstairs (or, in one case, a prominent American Diner!) Blogger won't let me format the images, but you should be able to click on the pix for enlargements / slide show.

   

 

 

 

More Peranakan posts:

The Peranakan Museum

Nyonya deco shopfronts in Singapore

Peranakan at Kim Choo's Kitchen